Deep Dive: Charlotte Metro Area EDGE Players

Charlotte Football Insiders is taking a look at ranking the top Charlotte Metro Area players by position, and we're taking a look at those players in those rankings in a Deep Dive analysis series. In these articles, we will share why these players are ranked and their best attributes as potential college-level football players in their respective futures. This will feature Charlotte Metro Area EDGE players.   <figure class="wp-block-image aligncenter size-large"><img src="https://prepredzone.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2025/04/25.png?w=1024" alt="" class="wp-image-1651588" /></figure>    Rodney has become an even bigger national recruit this offseason, with offers from almost every Power 4 school you can think of. Teams last season threw a lot of attention at Rodney where he faced double teams and offenses scheming to get the ball out quickly against the Mustangs, which limited his numbers some. But, that being said the elite traits physically are there and colleges know that - Rodney's speed and get off at the snap, the bend with pass rush technique is top-level. Rodney recently shared that he will commit on April 10th, and his final choice is between five schools: Duke, Notre Dame, Georgia, Tennessee, and South Carolina in no particular order. It will be exciting to see where this special talent ends up deciding to play college football.     Within the last week, Elijah has announced that he has returned to play at West Charlotte High School, which is where Elijah started his high school career previously. Playing in Head Coach Sam's Greiner attacking defensive scheme should allow Elijah to put up another impressive statistical season. As it stands, Elijah put up 14 sacks as a dominant EDGE player for the Hawks last season, and his speed/power combination on the outside caused a lot of trouble for opposing offenses. Elijah has received some big-time offers from Power 4 schools, and he will be another national recruit out of the Charlotte area who should make waves nationally once he makes his college selection.     As we continue looking at some of these impressive national-level talents, Damaad has picked up a ton of Power 4 offers this season as schools learned about the impressive physical talent Damaad is up close. As I have said before, when seeing Damaad up close, you see why he is a high-level college talent. The technique at the snap, the mix of pass rush moves, and the ability to set the edge in the run game are all top-tier. For a first-year school, teams ran away from Damaad and schemed against him a good bit, but going into his senior year I expect he will make an even bigger impact on the field. Damaad will have his pick of colleges to choose from once we get to the fall.     Jace has been one of my favorite guys to cover over the last couple of years. Even though his team had a tough year last year, Jace showed his leadership traits and continuously went out and was the best player on the field for his defense. As a result of that and his impressive talents on the field, Jace has received over 20 offers to play college football from a wide range of Division 1 college football programs. Jace has an excellent first step as a pass-rusher, and tackles really have to get out quickly to respect that threat, which gives Jace a chance to work his counter move to come back inside when offensive linemen over-compensate for his speed. Jace's recruitment continues to grow, and it will be fun to see ultimately where he decides to play going into his senior season.     KJ was a fun player to look at on film - when I saw him live, he played a lot with his hand in the dirt, so I wasn't sure if I was going to put him in the EDGE category, but on film, KJ showed some impressive work out of the 2 point stance on the outside, so we went ahead and put him here. Nevertheless, KJ's get-off from either the 2-point or 3-point stance is impressive. His hand usage at the snap to shed blocks in the run game or work a pass-rush move is strong - most notably how quick he is at using those hands along with the technique involved to disengage from offensive linemen. KJ received double-digit offers and named a Top 8 colleges for his choice back in February, so we'll see if he makes a decision before the season.    Honorable Mentions   [player_tooltip player_id='1671919' first='Max' last='Wearing'] - Palisades - I love the effort that Max shows rushing the passer, his energy is palpable when watching his film. Max also does a good job in setting the edge in the run game - he will be an impact player once again this season for a good Pumas defense.   [player_tooltip player_id='740002' first='Ja'Sean' last='Sheppard'] - Ardrey Kell - Ja'Sean does an excellent job in setting the edge in the run game. When you look at his film, you can tell he takes coaching well, and he plays with solid technique. I'm excited to see how he continues to progress in his upcoming senior season.   [player_tooltip player_id='1616163' first='Makai' last='Henriquez'] - Porter Ridge - This freshman came in last season and made a strong impact immediately on the edge with several multiple-sack games. He finished with 7 sacks on the season, and at 6'2 and 200 pounds, his future is a bright one for sure.   [player_tooltip player_id='933255' first='Semaj' last='Odems'] - Kings Mountain - Semaj recently picked up his first offer from Gardner-Webb, and with his size/speed combination at 6'4 and 215 pounds, he is a bit of an under-the-radar player who merits some real watching. Semaj shows a good ability to rush the passer with impressive speed off the edge, and he could be a player who starts seeing his stock rise once we get into the summer camp season.

Charlotte Football Insiders is taking a look at ranking the top Charlotte Metro Area players by position, and we're taking a look at those players in those rankings in a Deep Dive analysis series. In these articles, we will share why these players are ranked and their best attributes as potential college-level football players in their respective futures. This will feature Charlotte Metro Area EDGE players.